CITY WILL NOT LET HIM RETURN TO BARÇA
The agreement that would permanently remove Joao Cancelo from FC Barcelona
Joao Cancelo's future is far from Barcelona and FC Barcelona, because Manchester City have no intention of loaning him out again, even though all the Portuguese wants is to play for Hansi Flick's team
Things have become complicated for Joao Cancelo, at least as far as returning to FC Barcelona is concerned. The Portuguese full-back is still open to returning to the Barcelona team, but Manchester City have other plans and it is likely that he will end up signing for a team in the Saudi Pro League before August 30.
According to English media, there is already an agreement between the board of the Manchester team and Al-Hilal for his services in an operation that would be around 35 million euros. This figure would have pleased Pep Guardiola's team to let the Portuguese full-back leave. Although the player is still not convinced to go to Saudi Arabia, everything seems to indicate that he will follow the transfers of players such as Neymar Jr or Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cancelo will say goodbye to Barcelona
Although the Barça board seems to have already said goodbye to him by deleting his photograph and name from the official website, Cancelo seems to continue clinging to the desire to return. The financial difficulties of the Catalan club make his signing impossible, due to the high salary that the player has. Not to mention that they have not yet reached the 1:1 of the financial fair play and that they have other priorities, such as making the registration of Dani Olmo possible.
The Saudi Arabian team sees in the Portuguese the perfect replacement for its starting full-back, Saud Abdulhamid, who is close to taking the next step in his career with his signing for AS Roma. This transfer is practically assured, according to the information offered by Fabrizio Romano. The footballer will arrive in Italy this Monday and, as soon as the operation is completed, the directors will speak with City again to try to close the agreement.
Right now, there is nothing that the player can do to avoid his fate, because the English team refuses to complete a loan without an option to buy. It is sale or nothing, so he will have to find a new club that wants to sign him in the next few hours or he will have to head to Arab lands this week.
The Catalans will have to find a solution at right back
For their part, the Blaugrana club's board will have to look for another option to cover the right-back position after the injury of Andreas Christensen, who suffered a problem with his Achilles tendon and will be out for at least a month. Jules Koundé could occupy the position, but only temporarily since it is not where he usually shines on the field. With Cancelo already ruled out, Marc Pubill is their other low-cost option, so Hansi Flick will have to meet with Deco and company to make a decision before August 30.
